Jeffrey Hollister, Montrose

Detective Debra Strong of the DA’s office filed multiple complaints against two Montrose residents on Sept. 6 stemming from the writing of bad checks. In the first complaint, Strong attests that their office received information several months ago that Fowler Oil Service had been given checks drawn on an account with insufficient funds in Sept. and Oct. of last year. The writer of the check, Terry R. Wescott, 32, Montrose, was notified by Fowler of the bounced checks, but did not respond. In May of this year, a state constable served notification of the bad checks to a female at the Wescott residence who stated that she was Terry Wescott, but no further action was taken by Wescott. On Aug. 9, Strong spoke with Wescott, a man who was not the female who claimed that identity previously, and was told that the money had been paid to Fowler and that he would provide a receipt to prove it, but he apparently did not. When Strong contacted Fowler, she was told that the money had not been paid and, in fact, another bad check had allegedly been written in April of this year. The total loss to Fowler Oil was $120 in checks total, plus $25 in bank fees for each of the three checks. Wescott has been ordered to appear in court on Oct. 3.

In a separate but related complaint, Det. Strong attested that a female wrote bad checks to Price Chopper in Montrose on three occasions last fall, once in September and twice in October. The checks were also drawn on an account registered to Terry Wescott, Montrose, and processed with the Price Chopper AdvantEdge card issued in his name. Video surveillance indicated a female writing the checks in all three incidents, later identified to be Nicole Johanna Hall, Wescott’s fiancee. The store sent written notice to Wescott’s residence but received no response. Strong contacted the residence on June 11 and spoke with Hall, who reportedly denied receiving notice of bad checks. On further questioning, Hall indicated that Wescott did not do the shopping and asked if the account was single or joint, and she was told it was single in Wescott’s name only. She said that she would bring the money to the DA’s office the next week, but she did not. Strong then contacted Wescott via his cell phone and left a message regarding Hall’s intent to repay the money but received no response. A call to the residence was placed again on July 7. A message was left, and Hall called back to ask again if the account was single or joint. On Aug. 9, Wescott was informed by Strong that the money had still not been received, but Wescott maintained that Hall had mailed a money order and that he would provide proof of such. When no proof was provided as of Sept. 6, charges were filed against Hall in the district judge's office, since she had been identified in the surveillance video. She is required to appear before the judge on Oct. 3. The loss to Price Chopper for the three checks amounted to $531.35, plus a total of $60 in bank fees.